History
Poetry is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Washington DC. Despite its storied literary history, diverse music communities, and world-renowned museum system, visitors and residents alike have trouble seeing beyond the shadow of Capitol Hill.
Sunlight streamed in as I parted the window curtains of the double-decker luxury bus my husband and I were taking from Mumbai to the popular summer destination of Mahabaleshwar, 264 kilometers East of India’s biggest city. Outside, low-hanging tufts of clouds touched the opulent carpet of green that rolled down the hills.
Hidden behind Bucharest’s Soviet-style apartment blocks are the traces of the city’s once thriving Jewish community, 70,000 people strong, who lived in the capital before World War II and Soviet demolition nearly obliterated their culture.
The tallest paddy plant in the world, Pokkali grows up to 2 metres, with its grain-bearing head staying above the brackish flood waters that inundate coastal Kerala every year, where rising sea levels and frequent floods pose imminent climate threats.
When I initially heard about free air life, my mind immediately conjured up images of people hiking frozen glaciers, swimming across the fjords and scaling mountains of terrifying heights.
I didn’t know a single thing about Detroit when I moved here a year ago. Most people plan where they want to move but when your spouse is in medical school, you don’t always have the luxury of choice or time.
Of course, the state wouldn’t be for lovers if its cities and towns didn’t embody the same coveted qualities. Located in the southwest region of the state, Roanoke checks all the boxes.
When travelers think of Poland, Krakćw and Warsaw, the country’s two largest and most popular tourist centers are typically what come to mind. But Poland is a huge country with a myriad of interesting cities for visitors. Here are five alternative cities you should check out when in Poland.
The volcanic island of Tenerife, the largest and most diverse of the Canary Island Archipelago, is a fabulous year-round destination with record-breaking numbers of visitors each year.
The Spanish city of Barcelona had been Antoni Gaudi’s canvas and muse, at once. The 19th-century architect-wizard used the entire Catalonian city to express his creative genius and seamlessly blended the Gothic and the French Art-Nouveau with Expressionism to create his architectural masterpieces.
The sprawling mansion looked like a medieval European castle with its arched bay windows and turrets in each corners, the dark red laterite façade gleaming in the morning sun. We got down from our car, and were immediately greeted by Debjit Singh Deo, who owns and runs this heritage building amid the bucolic settings of rural Odisha in eastern part of India. Debjit’s great grandfather King Jyoti Prasad Singh Deo of Panchkote had built this two-storeyed mansion in 1933 as a royal hunting lodge.
It was Fall of 2019 and Beijing was beautiful, with ripe persimmons hanging from trees like lanterns and golden gingko trees glowing in the park. But as the days grew shorter and the arctic chill set in, my spirits sank. Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and I longed for home. It was our first holiday away from the U.S. during our two-year assignment of living in Beijing for my husband’s job.
